ninjabunneh's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not going to go into a huge long-winded review on this one. It's a typical apocalyptic-featuring-aliens book, has bad guys and good guys, a plot twist that I did figure out early on (nothing new for me there), and Amy is the soup de apocalypse. There is no insta-love (whohoo!), no love triangle (thank fuck) and I honestly was impressed when I read this is Ms. Lunetta's debut novel. In the After is a well paced, well written, enjoyable read. It managed to distract me from a certain JB, which is not an easy task, trust me. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
abartley73's review against another edition
5.0
Spoiler free!
I'm not sure why I had never heard of this book. I really try to stay active when it comes to goodreads and booktube. I'm always watching videos and reading reviews to see what books are out there, but I've never even heard this book mentioned. With that being said, I think this shows that people should read what interests them, and not necessarily what books are always being hyped up. I've read quite a few that were so hyped but were such a disappointment to me. Not necessarily because they were bad books, but mainly because it's just not something I'm interested in.
So the other day, I'm browsing through the library and come across this book. The synopsis sounded so interesting that I picked it up. Now I'm irritated that I didn't grab the second one along with it. I think this really shows what books are out there and what I'm missing out on.
It started out as a survival book, which I now realize is something that really interests me. We all joke around that we are ready for the apocalypse, but if put in that situation, would we really be as smart as someone like Amy? She's really has gotten survival down. Smart ways to avoid Them. How to scavenge without dying. Where to live. Basically just how to survive when there's no hope. She had no help and figured it out by herself, and I instantly loved her as a character.
She finds Baby pretty early on. I loved Baby's character instantly. I'm not fond of kids to be honest, but the author made Baby into this great survivor at such a young age. I instantly loved her as a character, as well.
I don't want to say too much about the plot because I want this to be spoiler free. I absolutely loved it. I didn't come across any boring parts, and I knew with this book, I couldn't sit down to read without reading 100+ pages at a time, which is a lot for me. The main complaint I have is that I wish the actual survival part had been a bigger part of the story. I can understand that 455 pages of pure survival could easily get boring and repetitive. I just kind of felt like she built this really interesting post apocalyptic world, and then didn't explore it much.
I struggled when it got to the part where she was telling the story through flashbacks. Once I got used to it, it didn't bother me. It just kind of came out of nowhere in the story and threw me off for a few chapters.
I also really hate cliffhangers. I'm never the type to read a series straight through. If I'm reading multiple books through the same world, I become bored pretty fast and I don't enjoy the book as much as I would have. But she ended it perfectly. While it is somewhat of a cliffhanger, it's not one of those ones where you don't know if someone is going to live or die. I haaaaate that with a passion! I plan on picking up the sequel pretty quickly, but I want to read a book or two in between before I start the next book.
Overall Rating: A solid 4.5 stars!
P.S. I didn't see the ending coming at all. I'm usually able to guess the majority of endings before I finish a book, but the author was amazing at completely blowing me away!
I'm not sure why I had never heard of this book. I really try to stay active when it comes to goodreads and booktube. I'm always watching videos and reading reviews to see what books are out there, but I've never even heard this book mentioned. With that being said, I think this shows that people should read what interests them, and not necessarily what books are always being hyped up. I've read quite a few that were so hyped but were such a disappointment to me. Not necessarily because they were bad books, but mainly because it's just not something I'm interested in.
So the other day, I'm browsing through the library and come across this book. The synopsis sounded so interesting that I picked it up. Now I'm irritated that I didn't grab the second one along with it. I think this really shows what books are out there and what I'm missing out on.
It started out as a survival book, which I now realize is something that really interests me. We all joke around that we are ready for the apocalypse, but if put in that situation, would we really be as smart as someone like Amy? She's really has gotten survival down. Smart ways to avoid Them. How to scavenge without dying. Where to live. Basically just how to survive when there's no hope. She had no help and figured it out by herself, and I instantly loved her as a character.
She finds Baby pretty early on. I loved Baby's character instantly. I'm not fond of kids to be honest, but the author made Baby into this great survivor at such a young age. I instantly loved her as a character, as well.
I don't want to say too much about the plot because I want this to be spoiler free. I absolutely loved it. I didn't come across any boring parts, and I knew with this book, I couldn't sit down to read without reading 100+ pages at a time, which is a lot for me. The main complaint I have is that I wish the actual survival part had been a bigger part of the story. I can understand that 455 pages of pure survival could easily get boring and repetitive. I just kind of felt like she built this really interesting post apocalyptic world, and then didn't explore it much.
I struggled when it got to the part where she was telling the story through flashbacks. Once I got used to it, it didn't bother me. It just kind of came out of nowhere in the story and threw me off for a few chapters.
I also really hate cliffhangers. I'm never the type to read a series straight through. If I'm reading multiple books through the same world, I become bored pretty fast and I don't enjoy the book as much as I would have. But she ended it perfectly. While it is somewhat of a cliffhanger, it's not one of those ones where you don't know if someone is going to live or die. I haaaaate that with a passion! I plan on picking up the sequel pretty quickly, but I want to read a book or two in between before I start the next book.
Overall Rating: A solid 4.5 stars!
P.S. I didn't see the ending coming at all. I'm usually able to guess the majority of endings before I finish a book, but the author was amazing at completely blowing me away!
mehsi's review against another edition
2.0
I was looking forward to this book since last year. The blurb sounded awesome, and well.. let's just say if I had to rate the 3 parts this book contains it would be the following:
Part 1:
***** stars.
Part 2:
** stars
Part 3:
* star.
As you can see.. It started awesome, and it ended up in pure boringness.
I loved the beginning, we have our kick-ass main lead girl Amy, who is home alone, but while she is watching tv she sees the news. The horrible news of men-eating aliens. In a matter of days, the whole world is gone, most people are dead. She stick to the house, and only ventures out after a few days. Back then she didn't know what to expect, but I loved her, how she, regardless of scary men-eating monsters went outside. Ok it utterly failed, but she learned a lesson.
The first part focuses on Amy and later on Baby (the toddler she found), on how they survive, how they try to get by in a world destroyed. Eventually things happen and they have to run away from their safe haven.
In part 2 we get to the New Hope city, a city with survivors, and also a surprise person In part two we also have cursive parts, mentioning Amy as being in a hospital. I found that to be really confusing, I had no clue what was going on anymore.
I loved the plot twist that happened in the book though.
I loved the characters, but I had hoped for more of Part 1, more survival, more living with countless scary critters. Instead, I got a bit survival, and after that a whole lot of confusion and boredom.
I am not going to read book 2.
Part 1:
***** stars.
Part 2:
** stars
Part 3:
* star.
As you can see.. It started awesome, and it ended up in pure boringness.
I loved the beginning, we have our kick-ass main lead girl Amy, who is home alone, but while she is watching tv she sees the news. The horrible news of men-eating aliens. In a matter of days, the whole world is gone, most people are dead. She stick to the house, and only ventures out after a few days. Back then she didn't know what to expect, but I loved her, how she, regardless of scary men-eating monsters went outside. Ok it utterly failed, but she learned a lesson.
The first part focuses on Amy and later on Baby (the toddler she found), on how they survive, how they try to get by in a world destroyed. Eventually things happen and they have to run away from their safe haven.
In part 2 we get to the New Hope city, a city with survivors, and also a surprise person
Spoiler
I kind of suspected it, but it was still a surprise to see Amy's mom, still alive, and one of the leaders.I loved the plot twist that happened in the book though.
Spoiler
That in fact, the aliens are not aliens. But a government project gone wrong. People change (when bitten, but also at a time, through the air) in green, hungry, men-eating monsters. Call it zombies, call it something else, it was a great twist though.I loved the characters, but I had hoped for more of Part 1, more survival, more living with countless scary critters. Instead, I got a bit survival, and after that a whole lot of confusion and boredom.
I am not going to read book 2.
mommabygrace's review against another edition
4.0
In the After is a post-apocalyptic YA debut novel. I haven't read post-apocalyptic stories in awhile, and full disclosure, I saw this book on the shelf at the library and thought, "that's a cool cover," then, "let's read it" after reading the inscription.
The storyline was intriguing, learning to survive in a world that is no longer your own. Beings believed to be aliens spreading across the globe, infecting all they can see. Behaving as zombies, yet they don't devour as zombie games and shows portray... just bite, infect, move on. Essentially blind, if you remain quiet. So, Amy learns how to quiet. Learns to only go out at night, where the shadows give her an advantage. Develops a form of sign language in order to talk with the mute toddler she found while scavenging one day.
The girls have only each other, as close as sisters as they can get. One day, they're rescued by those who formed a safe haven, and imagine Amy's surprise when she finds her mom there, alive and well. But, things aren't quite as they seem there. After several years of having to take care of herself, and then also Baby, Amy struggles with conforming to the rules of the society. It's too loud. Too open. So she tries to adjust, but it's not easy.
The second half of the book is half memory, half in the present. So while it bounces back and forth, you get to read her current struggle and also slowly read about the events leading up to her "breakdown," so to speak. It's quite an interesting story. There is a very slight romance or at least the inkling of one, but definitely not enough to actually qualify this to be a romance.
The storyline was intriguing, learning to survive in a world that is no longer your own. Beings believed to be aliens spreading across the globe, infecting all they can see. Behaving as zombies, yet they don't devour as zombie games and shows portray... just bite, infect, move on. Essentially blind, if you remain quiet. So, Amy learns how to quiet. Learns to only go out at night, where the shadows give her an advantage. Develops a form of sign language in order to talk with the mute toddler she found while scavenging one day.
The girls have only each other, as close as sisters as they can get. One day, they're rescued by those who formed a safe haven, and imagine Amy's surprise when she finds her mom there, alive and well. But, things aren't quite as they seem there. After several years of having to take care of herself, and then also Baby, Amy struggles with conforming to the rules of the society. It's too loud. Too open. So she tries to adjust, but it's not easy.
The second half of the book is half memory, half in the present. So while it bounces back and forth, you get to read her current struggle and also slowly read about the events leading up to her "breakdown," so to speak. It's quite an interesting story. There is a very slight romance or at least the inkling of one, but definitely not enough to actually qualify this to be a romance.
evaline13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bookkat's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging young adult post apocalyptic novel. Explores the survival of one teen against deadly creatures. Like any good book of this type, some of the challenges also come from surviving humans. It was a little predictable, but still very enjoyable. I listened to audio version.
rosiethespy's review against another edition
2.0
This book started out with so much potential, but all kind of falls apart half way through.
novelheartbeat's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
Before was reality; the After, a nightmare.
In the After was fabulous! The world that Lunetta painted drew me in and I loved it!
I think the driving point in this book was the relationship between Amy and Baby. It was beautiful and real and had me rooting for them to succeed. Amy was very protective of Baby, but Baby was perfectly capable of holding her own as well. I absolutely LOVED the fact that they spoke in sign language! They had their own modified version and could hold entire conversations with nothing but their hands; even when they couldn’t see they could sign into each other’s hands. It was awesome! So there were very few quotations in the first half of the book because the conversations were all in italics. I can’t think of a single other book like that! Very cool.
Another important part: Them. Totally creepy, mindless killing machines. They flock to light and even the smallest sound. How terrible would it be to live in silence? To not even be able to whisper? And sometimes it really struck me how different the world was when Baby was concerned: i.e. She didn’t know what a horse was. It’s something you don’t really think about, and I think that made the world building even better because the author included small things like that.
I have to admit that Amy kind of annoyed me at times. She was rather arrogant and many times I just wanted to slap her.
So much of who I used to be was about being good in school and having friends who were good in school. We were, to put it simply, arrogant little know-it-alls. But I miss that.
You miss being a bitch? Okay, sure. Just the way she talked about herself and her life Before was enough to make me sure that I would have hated her. And the way she regarded Amber annoyed me, too (even though Amber kinda deserved it). Just because Amber didn’t know how to survive, Amy looked at her as being lesser and unworthy of life.
…having to deal with a self-centered dimwit can have deadly consequences.
Wow. I mean, I get it. It’s about survival of the fittest. But damn, get off your high horse. The girl can learn. Yet despite all that arrogance, she couldn’t figure things out.
Spoiler
It was OBVIOUS that the mark on Baby’s neck meant something, yet she was too dense to realize it. Rice had an obvious reaction to it, and covered it up more than once. If someone acted strangely to it, wouldn’t you question why?I stared at her for a moment, her blonde hair barely covering the scar on her neck. I reached out and combed her hair with my fingers, arranging it over the mark, though I wasn’t entirely sure why.
Are you seriously that dumb? Ugh.
Rice was okay, but he didn’t have much of a personality. He was kinda just there for me. And the romance didn’t do much for me, either…but thankfully it didn’t play a very large role in the story.
You always have to give up some freedoms to live in any society.
New Hope was a full blown dystopian society. I suppose to live in harmony in a post-apocalyptic world there’d have to be some sort of control, but this town took it to the extreme. Pregnancy is a requirement, and you have no choice who you have children with. If you didn’t conform, you were drugged and thrown in a mental ward. It was insane!
In the last half, the story was laced with intermittent flashbacks. It made it super intriguing because all you get is snippets of Amy being in the hospital, drugged to oblivion for some horrible misdemeanor that she supposedly committed. But you have no idea what it is because even she doesn’t know! It was brilliantly done and had me gobbling up the story to find answers.
And oh boy, did I get answers. There’s a major twist in the story! I never would have guessed going into this novel.
Spoiler
I have to admit that I had questions about Them, and that some of it didn’t make sense – like how did they make a ship if they’re so dumb? – but I never thought that!Favorite character: Kay. She was badass!
ASSESSMENT
Plot: 5/5
Writing style: 4.5/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Characters: 4/5
World-building: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Cover: 4.5/5